Wow, a whole month in South Africa has passed. Craziness. It’s
weird because even after a month I sometimes have to stop and remind myself
that “OhEmGee I am actually living on my own as a fellow in South Africa.” I
have to remind myself for two reasons. The first is that part of me still
cannot believe what I am experiencing. The other part of me feels like life is
pretty normal. As I settle into a daily routine I realize that even though everything is totally different than it was a month ago, things are also pretty
manageable. Another thing I find I am often reminding myself is that the sun
does actually exist. Thirty days in South Africa—I have seen the sun 3 times.
Hopefully soon I’ll be whining about the unbearable dry heat. Until then, I am just getting pastier by the minute
(and I don’t need any help on that front).
Last time I wrote, I
had a weekend trip to Durban and a weekend trip to Johannesburg planned. Durban
was a blast. On Saturday night we went to a big party at a pub called Waxy’s.
It ended up being a late night to say the least. Sunday, we got breakfast and
spent some time on the beach. Predictably a rainstorm cut our seaside
relaxation short.
Joburg, sadly did not happen. I was actually out of
commission this weekend as I think I caught a little bit of some kind of
flu—honestly I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. So I spent the weekend
inside being pretty lame and bored. The silver lining is that the weather was
overcast and rainy (imagine that) so I didn’t miss any fun in the sun at least.
While we’re on the topic of weather, last night as a loud and windy storm
passed through PMB I couldn’t stop thinking about all my friends and family on
the east coast in the states. Hope everyone is safe and the damage is minimal!
My South African coworkers were also following Hurricane
Sandy with a close eye but for a different reason than I was. The CAP008 trial
that I am working on, that was set to start in October, was pushed back because
of issues with shipping the necessary products from the US. Lucky for us, the
shipment made it to South Africa the day before Sandy shut down the east coast!
So screening and enrolment for the trial are set to start on Wednesday and
things have been a little hectic around here!
Anyway, I was hoping to have some cool updates from my trip
to Joburg over the weekend but as I said, that didn’t happen. Next time I post
I want to upload a video of a typical Monday morning meeting at site. Sounds
dreadfully boring, I promise it’s not.
You’re in for a treat. So stay tuned!
so happy to get a new post!
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